Worcestershire open to Moeen as opener

Worcestershire have indicated their willingness to help should England decide they want to turn Moeen Ali into a Test opener in the UAE.

Moeen has already said he would be open to the idea and Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire's director of cricket, told the club website - perhaps with a view to ensuring Moeen's availability after the ODI series with Australia - that a move up the order could be accommodated.

Although Moeen's involvement in England's limited-overs squads means he won't be available for Worcestershire's next Championship game, against Sussex, he could appear in the final two rounds, should the ECB grant permission. Worcestershire are fighting to stave off relegation but Rhodes said they could see their way to using Moeen as an opener if requested.

"With Moeen playing in the one-dayers, that would take him right up to the brink of the last two games against Durham and Middlesex," Rhodes said.

"There is talk in the media that England may try and open the batting with him in Dubai against Pakistan. If that is the case, it seems logical that maybe we can help that out. If England requested him to open the batting, then we can accommodate that."

The failure of Adam Lyth against Australia - he averaged 12.77 with a highest score of 37 - means England are likely to look at alternatives for the three-Test series against Pakistan. Moeen was deployed at No. 8 during the Ashes, though he is a top-order player for his county and has not hidden his desire to bat higher for England.

While offering sympathy to Lyth, Moeen admitted in his ECB blog that he would not be averse to opening in Tests, having done so to good effect for England in limited-overs cricket.

"I would love to be batting back up the order, because coming in at No. 8 it was already 80 for 6 or something like that," Moeen wrote. "Before the series I thought to myself that the best thing I could do was be consistent and hopefully push myself up. I feel I've done that, and I was last man out in both innings at The Oval.

"I certainly wouldn't mind opening, in Tests as well as white-ball cricket - even though I've never done it in first-class cricket, I have in the second team as well as in one-day stuff with Worcestershire and England.

"But I feel a bit bad talking about that because of Adam Lyth. It's probably the hardest job in cricket, opening the batting, especially in the Ashes, and he must be so frustrated because I always thought he looked all right against the new ball - he just couldn't go past getting those starts."